Place the butter, brown sugar and caster sugar into the bowl of a mixer and beat until pale and creamy.

Add the eggs, one a time, making sure each is well incorporated before adding the next.

On a low speed add the crème fraîche, almond essence and vanilla extract - mix until just combined.

Sift the flour, baking powder and cornmeal together and then add to the mixing bowl. Fold in by hand. When combined pour the mixture into your prepared pan.

Bake for about 50 minutes or until cooked through. If you feel it's browning too quickly, lower the temperature and cover the top of the cake with baking paper lined foil.

When cooked, let it cool in the tin for 5 minutes before placing it on a wire rack.

The book suggests serving it with a blackberry comport and cream and obviously, I complied. I just used frozen blackberries and sweated them down with a little lemon juice and caster sugar. They are served at room temperature along with a nice dollop of Meander Valley Double Cream.

The cake itself has a wonderful crunchy crust and is a deep golden brown inside - it looks and feels moist but it's highly absorbent and just soaks in the blackberry juice without falling apart. This will certainly be something I will cook more than once!

Hi Haalo,Just in time with this recipe.We are 'doing the pig' this coming weekend. It's my job to provide morning tea and lunch.This will be the perfect cake for those who don't like a spongey type cake but rather a more robust one.